*An explanation of Week in the Life and the free download for the Days of the Week words can be found here.

Sunday was our very first morning without kids since Jonas was born. Jonas and Eliza spent the night with their grandparents. We spent the morning sleeping in (I slept until 9:30 or so and Jake slept until 11:00). We had cookies for breakfast, because there was no one there to see our bad example. Hah!

After lots of relaxing and snuggling, I edited photos and Jake finished up coding a blog for Freckled Nest Design.

Then we got ready to pick up the kids. The plan was to pick them up, buy Jonas new shoes, and go straight to a birthday party for one of Eliza’s classmates.

Here’s my birthday party secret: I keep a couple of kid presents in our pantry that cover a range of ages and interests. That way we don’t have to rush to the store every time we need a present (because we always procrastinate).

I put the present in a brown paper bag (which I buy in bulk) and glue a small coloring book page to a piece of folded cardstock for the card. Then I bring stickers and crayons in the car, so Eliza has fun coloring the card and decorating the bag on the way to the party. It’s personalized, fun, and WAY cheaper! We’d way rather spend $$ on the present than the wrapping, which can get expensive. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that’s saying something (name that quote!).

We stop across the street for gas and drinks before we leave. We’re prepped for an hour of car time. Black mango tea is my favorite cold drink right now. It’s my favorite hot tea flavor, for sure.

Jake’s step-mom Rita (whom the kids call “Abba”) met us at the shoe store near their house to save us on time. That was much appreciated, because we were running late, as usual!

We went to Stride Rite, which is our very favorite store for baby shoes. They are flexible and don’t restrict the growth of those tiny little feet. Thing is, they’re pricey. So we weren’t looking forward to this. But, as luck would have it, the one we went to is now an outlet store! These R2D2 awesome kicks were only $20!!!

It happened to be a buy one get one half off day, so Eliza got some awesome running shoes. Time to learn those laces. She really wanted Star Wars shoes too, but there weren’t any in her size. Bummer. It’s super funny that the ones she ended up picking had the same color scheme as the blog.

Then we rushed to the birthday party. We were late, of course. Jonas fell asleep in the car, so Jake stayed in the car with the napping guy and worked on his laptop while E and I partied inside.

The adults did face painting. I gave E a butterfly.

There will be a lot more photos from the party in the album, but I don’t want to use the kids’ photos without their parents’ permission.

The party was at Pump It Up, so there were huge inflated obstacles, slides, and bouncy houses. Part of the party was in a room with black lights and glowing stuff! I read Shakespeare part of the time, and took off my shoes and chased kids part of the time.

Jonas and Jake came in just in time for cake and pizza. Jonas was excited to play with the balloons.

Jake and I talked to the other parents about school and parent stuff.

When we got home, Jonas was excited to run around outside, testing out his new shoes.

Then Jake and E emptied the dishwasher before dinner.

And E took a shower while I made Chicken Carbonara (I added in peas). Jake and Jonas played.

Eliza came back down from her shower in fancy clothes instead of pajamas. Her eyebrows were also still pretty blue.

I was pretty tired before dinner. I told Jake I was “out of juice”, which is what I tell him when I’m getting super tired and need extra help. Eliza said, “Why don’t you just go to the store and buy some more?” Hah! We talked about metaphors and she thought up of some other examples. Jake got everyone’s plates together and helped Jonas drink out of a big cup.

Jonas in Jake’s hat. Awwww. We knew Jonas would make a mess with the noodles, so we left him in a diaper during dinner. See that belly? Good choice.

Eliza tests the hat too. During dinner she tells us all what we’re “nerds of” and best at. It went something like this, “Dad’s the nerd of computers, and taking pictures, and Legos and things. Mom’s the nerd of books, and blogging, and making stuff. I’m the nerd of coloring, definitely, and inventing things, like recipes and science stuff, and languages and words, like French and Spanish…” And this is how we know we’re winning at parenting. It was pretty funny when we got to Jonas. Eliza said he’s the nerd of climbing (so true) and we came up with “kisses” and “pooping” as his other main talents. LOL.

That’s my favorite necklace. It’s Eliza made. We passed the camera around the table at dinner and skipped the tripod tonight.

After dinner these people were goofy and crazy. I went to go put on comfy p.j. bottoms and a concert tee (my daily uniform, usually) and when I got back, Eliza and Jake were playing a game with Jonas. They snuggle to make him jealous and he tries to squeeze in between them to get all of the snuggles for himself.

We all sat on the couch and read Jonas The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He yelled and tried to steal the book. He turned the pages before I was done, but I know this by heart, so I read on anyway. I kissed Jonas, Jake put Jonas to bed and Eliza and I switched to Harry Potter.

We fished reading about the second task in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Eliza was super into it.

After we finished the chapter, Eliza was sent to bed and Jake edited photos and did blog work while I captured the cat.

And gave him a bath. There’s not much more pitiful than a wet cat. But he’s very sleek and silky now.

After working in our office, we went upstairs to bed. I read a bit of Much Ado About Nothing and Jake Stumbled. Then we watched an episode of Big Bang Theory on Jake’s laptop and feel fast asleep.

That was our Sunday! How was yours?

I’m starting to put decide how to put together all of this awesome documentation today. I’ll probably share a few update posts, including a few more freebies, this week before posting the finial product!